Tuesday, April 3, 2012

RADIATION ALERT

1978 – WHAT A YEAR IT WAS!.....among other things that happened during the year was...

Former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies died aged 84,
Artist Brett Whiteley was awarded the Archibald Prize,
“Grease” was released and went on to become the most popular movie musical of all time, Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister,
Australia’s first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

AND THE RADIATORS WERE BORN!!!!!

I saw them at The Sundowners at Punchbowl in 79-80, and even I was gob smacked when they introduced the new single...GIMME HEAD....I though to myself, that will never get on 2SM...none the less...it sold a MINT...as it should......

Nichol and Parker grew up in Bega where they attended the local high school. They formed a local group, Undecided, and in 1969 they relocated to Sydney.

Prior to 1978 Brian Nichol was bass guitar/lead vocals and Fess Parker was lead guitar in “Big Swifty”. At the same time Geoff Turner was bass guitarist with RCA signed “Twister”. After the two bands performed together a couple of times “Twister” disbanded and “Big Swifty” decided on a change of musical direction. Times were changing and major advances had been made in the music industry so the two bands and their music styles merged and drummer Chris Tagg was added to the mix .

The Radiators signed with WEA Records and issued their debut single, "Comin' Home" in September 1979. It peaked at No. 33 on the Australian Music Chart. A second single, "Gimme Head", appeared in February 1980 In March 1980 the group released their first album, Feel the Heat, which was produced by Charles Fisher, who had produced Radio Birdman and OL 55 in the past

Brendan Callinan brought keyboards to The Radiators in 1979 and the individual members of the band began their prolific song writing careers. By the time Chris Tagg left the Band in 1984, three albums had been released and The Radiators had got gold records for “Scream of the Real” and “Up For Grabs”. A little further down the track their Albums “Feel the Heat” and “You Have the Right to Remain Silent” scored double Platinum.

When 1990 rolled around Mick Buckley moved on, had overseas success and keyboardist Brendan departed. Drummer extraordinaire Mark Lucas signed up and it was decided thereafter to forego keyboards.

That was the lineup of the mighty Radiators in 1990 and so it remains to this day!
The Radiators appeared on the Ted Mulry Benefit and then in 2007, the boys rocked the joint at the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series...suffice to say, I dont think we've got rid of 'em just yet.....

Travelling thousands upon thousands of kilometres up, down and across the length and breadth of this vast country, The Radiators have carved out a nice little spot for themselves in Aussie Rock history. They have headlined and shared the stage with some great Aussie acts such as AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Dragon and INXS....and on the odd occasion..BLEW THEM AWAY